Betty goes to McDonald's.

Betty Keira mentioned in her review of The Proposal this week, that the characters went to McDonald's! Wow. While this Betty is not overly fond of McDonald's, our family does tend to swing through for lunch during long road trips - so we go maybe 3 or 4 times a year. This spring I was coming back from Idaho with Betty Keira and my daughter-in-law (formerly known as "The Zombie Bride"). We stopped for breakfast at a McDonald's (I'm not usually a breakfast gal...) and Rebekah talked me into ordering a McGriddle. I've now had 3 or 4 total (lots of road trips this year...) and I'm hooked. Considering how high in calories these puppies are, it's a good thing I don't eat breakfast at McDonald's very often.

With my son and his wife visiting for the next few weeks, we decided to start off our first weekend with a McGriddle party. I did a little research for recipes - mostly trying to figure out how to get the syrup into the pancakes. I found a couple of different methods and decided to go with the simplest (because that's how I roll). I dropped bits of syrup into a small bowl of sugar and coated the drops with sugar. I couldn't make the drops small, but after they had been in the sugar a minute or two they were like soft gummy bears and I was able to pinch them into smaller pieces.

Making the actual McGriddle was pretty simple - especially since I actually have a griddle. I have the rings from when I made crumpets - cheap metal cookie cutters. Make a pancake batter (I used Krusteaze...but I'm sure you could use any mix you like...or even make it from scratch - if that's how you roll). Spray rings and griddles with Pam, then pour batter into ring - enough to cover the bottom. Drop pieces of syrup on top and cook for a couple of minutes before removing the ring...(then you can start more pancakes). Flip when the top of the pancake turns dull and cook on the other side until done. Meanwhile, make the filling. I used Jimmy Dean sausage on mine - turkey bacon and American cheese slices (yeah, Kraft) were available also.

Verdict: These turned out quite well and were completely devoured...Rebekah and I have agreed to give them another go - with an eye towards infusing more maple flavor into the pancakes - and making the pancakes thinner.